Care4Kids Resources Now Available
Merrill Gay, the Executive Director at the CT Early Childhood Alliance, put together a spreadsheet of town-by-town data on Care4Kids, comparing January
2016 to January 2017. It shows that 1,768 fewer children were served in 2017. That breaks down to 744 infants, 499 preschoolers, and 525 school-age children. The impact on providers varies by age: Infants - Impact pretty evenly split between centers and home based care mostly in unregulated settings,
Preschoolers - Overwhelmingly centers impacted, School Age - Mostly unregulated family members impacted
CT Voices for Children, with assistance from CT Early Childhood Alliance and CT Parent Power, released a Care4Kids brief about the importance of Care4Kids, enrollment trends, stories from providers and parents, and some solutions for funding it. CT Voices welcomes you to use the data in your advocacy efforts.
CT Association for Human Services (CAHS) has created an interactive map and a companion blog post (map can be seen through the blog post as well) that show how each town in CT is impacted by the closure of the Care4Kids program.
Finally, if you click the screenshot from the Hartford Courant article, it will take you to an article that ran in a column April 1 paper. The column focuses on cost of child care and why Care4Kids is so important to families.
OEC Releases 2016 Accountability Report
The Office of Early Childhood has released its second annual Accountability Report to the joint standing committees that have cognizance over matters relating to education and appropriations. The report reviews data on health, safety, kindergarten readiness and early school success. The report can be found on the OEC website or by clicking HERE.
Advocacy Day 2017 is Fast Approaching!
In a tough budget year and fast-changing policy climate, your attendance at the 2017 Early Childhood Advocacy Day is important! Mark your calendars for Thursday, April 20. Arrival time is 9:30 a.m., with the program running from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., in the Capitol's Old Judiciary Room, followed by legislator meetings. Please contact your legislators to set up meetings with them. If you need assistance, please contact Samantha Dynowski at [email protected]. Also, we are asking that attendees wear the color RED for solidarity. Thank you!
Greater Hartford Legal Aid: Free Resources Available to Designate "Standby Guardians"
NOTE: We will have a presentation by Greater New Haven Legal Assistance at our 4/6 Alliance meeting. James Bhandary-Alexander will discuss emergency preparedness for immigrant families. The information below can also be used as a resource for immigrant families.
22,000 citizen children in Connecticut have undocumented parents. The threat of detention or deportation of parents, and separation from their children, is a frightening scenario for these families. To protect children in the event of detention or deportation, Greater Hartford Legal Aid has free resources for parents to designate a standby guardian for children, rather than have children put in DCF custody. A standby guardian can step in if a parent is detained to care for and make decisions for a child until the child can be reunited with the parent. Information and free legal forms to designate a standby guardian (spanish version). It is also helpful to keep a list important information for your child (such as doctors names and phone numbers, schools and teacahers, allergies, etc). For recent news on this issue: https://ctmirror.org/2017/03/07/dcf-22000-citizen-children-of-undocumented-parents-in-ct/
CHDI Forum Focuses on Early Childhood Trauma
On March 30, Child Health and Development Institute, Inc., hosted a forum on early childhood trauma at the Capitol. The forum kicked off the Early Childhood Trauma Collaborative's (ECTC) a five-year grant awarded to CHDI from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network to expand trauma-focused services to young children in Connecticut. The initiative aims to improve knowledge about childhood trauma among Connecticut’s early childhood workforce and increase access to trauma-focused evidence-based practices for children under seven and their families. The forum included Governor Dannel Malloy, Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, CHDI's Judith Meyers and Jason Lang. They spoke to the effects of trauma on young children and the need to support families who have experienced trauma with evidence-based treatments. This was followed by a panel discussion. To watch the forum on CTN, click HERE. To read the story in CT Mirror, click HERE. A WNPR interview is also available.
CPTV's Life Lessons Tackles Discussion on Paid Family and Medical Leave
CPTV is hosting a town-hall style program featuring a panel of experts who will discuss how CT might become the fifth state in the nation to implement paid family and medical leave. Seats are still available in the live audience. Register here to attend the program. The event is free but seats are limited. To submit questions prior to the program, email [email protected].
When: Thursday, April 6 from 6:45 pm to 9:00 pm. Reception with light hors d'oeuvres is from 6:45 pm to 7:30 pm. Seating in the studio is from 7:30 to 7:50 pm. The live program is from 8 to 9 pm.
Where: CPTV studio, 1049 Asylum Ave. Hartford
2017 Mission of Mercy Dental Clinic Heads to New Haven
All Our Kin to Host Benefit Event
Join the Connecticut-based nonprofit organization All Our Kin on Wednesday, April 5, to celebrate the critically important work family child care providers do for children and families at their annual Fairfield County benefit. C. Nicole Mason, Executive Director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest (CR2PI) at the New York Women’s Foundation and author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America, will give a special presentation.
The event will be held at the Bijou Theatre in Bridgeport from 5:30 – 8 pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit http://aokbridgeport2017.brownpapertickets.com/ or contact Nicole Allman at [email protected] or 203-772-2294.
CT-AIMH Spring Meeting and Seminar Scheduled for April 13
Registration is open for the CT Association for Infant Mental Health (CT-AIMH) Spring Meeting and Seminar, which takes place Thursday, April 13, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.at Woodwinds in Branford. Registration fee - $50 for CT-AIMH members, $80 if you pay for your CT-AIMH membership with your registration, and $90 if you are not a member. *There are discounts for parents of children 0-3 and discounts for students. Register HERE.
Support for the Alliance comes from of our members and our funders: The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, Connecticut Health Foundation, Children's Fund of Connecticut, Connecticut Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, The Fund for Greater Hartford, and The Eder Family Foundation